Ordnance



2 Sheets-Sheet l F. l. RATAICZAK ORDNANGE Filed Nov. 27, 1944 IINVENTOR.

Dec. 3, 1946.

Dec. 3 1946.

F. I. RATAICZAK QRDNANCE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. 27, 1944 .INVENTOR.

Patented Dec. 3, 1946 "ft-met- STTES PATENT Fro ORDNANCE' Francis I.Rataiczak, Dayton, Ohio, assignor to General Motors Corporation, Dayton,Ohio, a corporation of Delaware Application November 27, 1944,, SerialNol 565,252

3 Claims. (CI; 42-25) This invention relates to ordnance and moreparticularly to an improved shell ejecting mechanism for use in amachine gun.

The invention set forth herein represents an improvement over themechanism set forth in my co-pending application Serial Number 536,229,;filed May 19, 1944.

,s It is an object of this invention to provide a rugged shell ejectingmechanism capable of ejecting empty shells from a high speed machine gunwithout. damaging or breaking away fragments of the rims of the shells.Many of the prior art shell ejecting mechanisms which are satisfactoryfor slow speed guns cannot be used in the higher 2. lines and showing aportion of the cover in dotdash lines;

Fig. 5 is a top view showing the relationship of the shell ejectingmechanism to the conventional feedway; and I Fig. 6 is. a fragmentaryview on an enlarged scale showing the relationship-of the shell to theshell ejecting cam. when the shell first en ages the cam;

Referring now to the drawings, reference numerals I 0. l2 and. Mdesignate the receiver housing, the cover, and the gun barrelrespectively. As set forth more fully in my co-pending application, theshells are fed into the gun on a feedspeed guns because they would cutor dent the way- It which is held in place between the rerims of theshells Without properly ejecting them. ceiver Ill and the cover l2. Thebolt mechanism Another object of this invention is to provide comprisesa main portion l5 and a bolt head IT a new location and an improvedmounting arboth of which are mounted for reciprocation rangement for theshell ejecting mechanism. In within the receiver illin. accordancewithpresent the arrangement disclosed in my co-pending appractice. Thebolt head I! is provided with a plication, the shell ejecting mechanismis mountconventional type of extractor I8 which serves to ed.- withinthe bolt head. with the result that it extract the empty shell from thebarrel I 4- as has to be small. Furthermore, that arrangement the bolt.and bolt head move to the rear upon necessitates cuttin away a portionof the bolt recoil. As best shown in: Fig; 2-, the emptyshell head,thereby unduly weakening th bolt head. 2! strikes against a shellejecting cam 22 which By virtue of the improved arrangement disclosed iscarried by and actually formed as an integral herein. the bolt head ismade stronger and. the part ofthe. mounting bar 24* as shown inFigs. 3,shell ejecting mechanism can be made large andfi: Since themovement ofthe bolt head is enough and consequently strong enough to standvery'rapid and. sincetheshell Z0 is made'of relaup under all conditions.tively light-weight material itxis essentialthat. Still another objectof this invention is to prothe Shell j cting cam 22 be yi d bly mountedvide an improved shell ejecting mechanism which so as to be able to moveupwardly slightly as t e can be used in existing guns without making anyshell first strikes the beveled surface 26 provided major changes in thegun construction which has on t front end of e Shell ejecting Camotherwise proven to be very satisfactory. The ejected shell leavesthrough the el ct on Further objects and advantages of the presentopening 21 in the bottom of the receiver l0. invention will be apparentfrom the following de- As best shown in Fig. 3, the mountin bar Nscription, reference being had to the accompanyis Pivotally Supported ts One end y means 0f m drawings, h i preferred for of the a stud 25carried by the end wall 28 of the conpresent inve ti n is clearly shownventional feed rack I 6. The other end of the In the drawings: mountingbar 24 isajzarovided vslgithtfi slot at!) engages the stud carried y een wa tifn slioh rirf g t mew, partially m Secof the feedway'lS. Inorder to more clearly show e arrangement of my improved shell ejectingmechanism relative to the rest of the relatlonshlp of the cam t t thatthe gun parts, portion of the end wall 28 which is directly above Fig 2is a fmgmemar uh the cam 22 has been broken away in Fig. 5. As y f fparts broken best shown in Figs. 3 and 5, a hole 34 has been away, Shellbemg elected by my drilled downwardly from the top of the bar 24 provedShell meeting mechanism; so as to provide a recess for the spring 36which 3 shows the relationship of the 511611 ejectserves to bias the bar24 downwardly. Thus, the ing mechanism relative to the feedway, thecover, one end f the spring 35 rests against, t b tt and the receiverhousing; wall of the recess 34 and the other end of the Fig. 4 is afragmentary sectional view taken spring contacts the shank of the stud32. Each substantially on line 44 of Fig. 3 showing the stud is providedwith a locking means 38 which shell ejecting mechanism and feedway insolid 1 arranged as shown i i 5 so as to prevent 3 the bar 24 fromsliding off the studs. Enough clearance is provided between the bar 24and the locking members 38 so as to allow a small amount of movement ofthe bar relative to the wall 28 of the feedway I6.

As best shown in Figs. 1 and 4, the cover 12 has been cut away asindicated by the horizontal lin 40 and the vertical line 42 so as toprovide space for the mounting bar 24. During operation of the gun, theupward movement of the mounting bar 24 is limited by the cover whichengages the top surface of the bar 24 along the line 40. Likewise,rearward movement of the mounting bar 24 is limited by the cover whenthe bar strikes the cover along the line 42.

By virtue of the above described arrangement, it is apparent that whenan empty shell 20 moves into engagement with the cam surface 26 providedon the shell ejecting cam 22, the cam 22, together with the mounting bar24, is free to give a limited amount so as not to strike the rim of theempty shell too hard a blow. The bar 24 is purposely made of ratherheavy construction not only for reasons of strength but also so as tooffer the desired amount of inertia to movement. The force exerted bythe spring 36 should be made sufficient to return the shell ejecting cam22 to the position in which it is shown in Figs. 3 and 4 between theshell ejecting operations regardless of the position of the gun.

As best shown in Fig. 6, the angle of the cam surface 26 correspondsnearly to the angle of the chamfer on the rim of the shell so as toprovide good contact between the shell and the cam 26 and so as toprovide a smooth camming action when the beveled surfaces first comeinto contact with one another. lessens the force of the initial impactbetween the moving shell and the cam 22.

While the form of embodiment of the invention as herein disclosedconstitutes a preferred form, it is to be understood that other formsmight be adopted, as may come within the scope of th claims whichfollow.

What is claimed is as follows:

1. In a rapid fire machine gun, a receiver, a

receiver cover, a shell feedway mounted between said receiver andreceiver cover, a shell ejecting mechanism loosely carried by the rearwall of said feedway comprising a mounting bar extend- This improvedaction ing transversely of the receiver between the cover and thereceiver, a shell engaging cam depending from said bar and arranged soas to engage the upper rear edge of each empty shell upon extraction ofthe shell from the gun barrel, means carried by said feedway forpivotally supporting one end of said bar, the other end of said barhaving a slot formed therein, and means carried by said feedwaycooperating with said slot for limiting the pivotal movement of saidbar.

2. In a rapid fire machine gun a receiver, a receiver cover, a shellfeedway mounted between said receiver and receiver cover, a shellejecting mechanism loosely carried by the rear wall of said feedwaycomprising a mounting bar extending transversely of the receiver betweenthe cover and the receiver, a shell engaging cam depending from said barand arranged so as to engage the upper rear edge of each empty shellupon extraction of the shell from the gun barrel, means carried by saidfeedway for pivotally supporting one end of said bar, the other end ofsaid bar having a slot formed therein, and means carried by said feedwaycooperating with said slot for limiting the pivotal movement of saidbar, said cover and said mounting bar having complementary surfacesarranged so that said cover serves to limit both the rearward and upwardmovement of said ejector.

3. In a rapid fire machine gun, a receiver housing, a barrel, a coverfor said receiver housing, a reciprocating bolt mechanism disposedwithin said receiver housing, said receiver housing having an ejectionopening in the bottom wall thereof, a shell ejecting mechanismcomprising a shell ejecting cam disposed above the path of movement ofsaid bolt for engagement with the empty shells upon extraction from saidbarrel and for interrupting backward movement of the upper edge of theshell so as to flip the shell downwardly through said opening, amounting bar for said shell ejecting cam arranged transversely of saidreceiver housing with the ends of the bar projecting on opposite sidesof said housing, means located externally of said cover for looselysupporting the projecting ends of said bar, means carried by said coverfor limiting the upward movement of bar, and spring means for yieldablyholding said bar in its lowermost position.

FRANCIS I. RATAICZAK.

